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Bran Mak Morn
Worms of the Earth
Contents:
"Foreward" by Robert E. Howard
"The Lost Race"
"Men of the Shadows"
"Kings of the Night"
"A Song of the Race" (poem)
"Worms of the Earth"
Untitled ("A gray sky arched...")
"The Dark Man"
Cover Illustration: Jeff Jones
"Foreward" by Robert E. Howard
"The Lost Race"
"Men of the Shadows"
"Kings of the Night"
"A Song of the Race" (poem)
"Worms of the Earth"
Untitled ("A gray sky arched...")
"The Dark Man"
Cover Illustration: Jeff Jones
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 1975
9 people are currently reading
566 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
2,983 books2,645 followersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 27, 2021
Absolute all-time banger. Amazing.
"Terrible was the power of Rome ... but Titus Sulla played fox to a dangerous eagle when he baited the highland Pict-king whose fens bred magic more deadly than the bite of Caesar's swords...."
I'm sure I read it before in that REH collection I have, but man... I dunno if it's the cabin fever or what but it really hit home this time. Every paragraph is just batshit insane. Truly wild stuff. Paced back and forth while reading this, struggling not to shout every sentence out loud.
"Terrible was the power of Rome ... but Titus Sulla played fox to a dangerous eagle when he baited the highland Pict-king whose fens bred magic more deadly than the bite of Caesar's swords...."
I'm sure I read it before in that REH collection I have, but man... I dunno if it's the cabin fever or what but it really hit home this time. Every paragraph is just batshit insane. Truly wild stuff. Paced back and forth while reading this, struggling not to shout every sentence out loud.
November 8, 2021
Bran Mak Morn was never as popular as Kull or Solomon Kane (or the Big C, obviously), but he was one of Howard's most fully realized fantasy characters. He was a Pict fighting the Roman incursion of Britain, but the stories are also set within the Cthulhu Mythos cycle, as well as Howard's own imaginary history. There are five stories collected, most of which Howard sold to Weird Tales magazine, as well as a fragment and a poem. Howard was a grand storyteller, and a great pulp writer. Howard is near the top of his form here, though, as always, one must be aware of the context of the times in which the stories were written and the inherent racist attitudes. There are elements of horror, history, fantasy, but most of all action and adventure. This Zebra edition has a nice Jeff Jones cover and several interior illustrations from David Ireland.
August 31, 2015
The very same day that my lovely wife picked up a copy of ‘Z for Zachariah’ at the free bookshelves of our local train station, I picked up this.
Robert E. Howard is of course a writer I knew of, but one I’d never actually read. Obviously I’d seen the complete ‘Conan’ in the bookshops, but at 850+ pages, the whole thing just looked far too daunting. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is similarly fantasy, but it’s much shorter, looks more manageable and of course was mine for nothing. Therefore it seemed a wonderful place to start.
As usual I’ve reviewed each story as I’ve come to it:
The Lost Race
Are there mountains in Cornwall?
Were there ever panthers in Cornwall?
The details are a bit jarring, but they don’t really matter as this isn’t a story striving for accuracy, it’s going more for atmosphere. And as an atmospheric work it definitely delivers. It’s not the best written tale I’ve ever read – the prose is a bit clunky and the plot is somewhat simplistic, but in conjuring a world of fog, magic and mysticism it definitely succeeds. I guess its position in this collection makes this the prologue, and it does a good job of opening up this fantasy version of Britain, but it would also be quite missable if you’re reading whilst pressed for time.
Men of the Shadows
Definitely weird fiction, just not in the way that phrase is normally meant.
The first half is fantastic. A Roman soldier finds himself out in the wilds of Britain, cut off and facing enemy after enemy. It’s taut, atmospheric and damned scary. A story for anyone interested in horror or fantasy.
However the second half is a long, tedious and frankly incredibly dubious history of mankind. It tries to swap the scary and intimate for the vast an epic, but manages to disappoint at every level.
King of the Night
The best story thus far in the collection. Perfectly brilliant as a stand-alone piece, but also a continuation of the previous two tales in terms of character, setting and theme. But Howard now has the fantasy prose style nailed down and he can do what he likes with it; and he also understands that epic is not achieved by flights of fantasy alone.
This is the story of war – the build up to a battle, problems within camp, magic from a warrior magician, and then the vicious battle itself. The tale does its best to balance the bloody with the gory, and that’s even before the battle starts. We open with a Roman soldier (presumably the same one from ‘Men of Shadows’) having his heart cut out, and we end with literally thousands slaughtered. Yes, it’s not for the faint hearted, but in the sweep of its narrative and the ferociousness of its ending, this is a story that aims for and achieves epic status.
Worms of the Earth
So we have here the star attraction. The story which gives its name to the whole collection; the one which the back-cover blurb tells me is ‘regarded by many as Howard’s finest weird tale’.
The hype is justified.
I’m not in a position to say whether this is actually Howard’s finest weird tale, but without a doubt it’s brilliant.
‘Worms of the Earth’ is an innovative piece of sword and sorcery – atmospheric, mysterious, strangely sexy and damned scary. Our warrior king hero makes a deal with an ancient race – let’s call them ‘the old ones’, for sake of argument – to take revenge on a Roman who has earned his wrath. Obviously this decision is not going to end well for anyone. We’ve all read enough of these type of stories to know that. But what impressed me most about ‘Worms of the Earth’ is that even though it’s coming from the same direction as a H.P. Lovecraft story, this is no mere Lovecraftian-pastiche. There are similar themes and ideas, but Howard uses them in a way which is very much his own. This very much stands alongside the best of Lovecraft’s work, never in its shadow. A fantastic piece of fantasy which is blowing open its own path.
Fragment
Much like the title suggests, this is merely a sketch, an idea. Maybe if Howard had lived he would have fitted it in to a grander piece. As it is, it won’t live long in the memory.
The Dark Man
It makes sense that this is the last story, as rather than following our warrior king, Bran Mak Morn, and the world of the Picts, here they are the stuff of legend and myth. Although really it’s not that simple. Yes, the story follows a lone warrior, and he is helped by Bran Mak Morn and those warriors who went before, but this man is an outcast of a dying race and he’s taking on another dying race. So, the power of the warrior remains, but those who care are dwindling in number (or simply being brutally slain) every day.
It’s an elegiac tale then. The world of these stories is coming to end, and soon there will be no warriors to carry on their traditions, and the only people who will remotely care are people who pick up strange and battered paperbacks at train stations.
The warriors are gone, and the stories only survive on yellowed and cheap paper.
Robert E. Howard is of course a writer I knew of, but one I’d never actually read. Obviously I’d seen the complete ‘Conan’ in the bookshops, but at 850+ pages, the whole thing just looked far too daunting. ‘Worms of the Earth’ is similarly fantasy, but it’s much shorter, looks more manageable and of course was mine for nothing. Therefore it seemed a wonderful place to start.
As usual I’ve reviewed each story as I’ve come to it:
The Lost Race
Are there mountains in Cornwall?
Were there ever panthers in Cornwall?
The details are a bit jarring, but they don’t really matter as this isn’t a story striving for accuracy, it’s going more for atmosphere. And as an atmospheric work it definitely delivers. It’s not the best written tale I’ve ever read – the prose is a bit clunky and the plot is somewhat simplistic, but in conjuring a world of fog, magic and mysticism it definitely succeeds. I guess its position in this collection makes this the prologue, and it does a good job of opening up this fantasy version of Britain, but it would also be quite missable if you’re reading whilst pressed for time.
Men of the Shadows
Definitely weird fiction, just not in the way that phrase is normally meant.
The first half is fantastic. A Roman soldier finds himself out in the wilds of Britain, cut off and facing enemy after enemy. It’s taut, atmospheric and damned scary. A story for anyone interested in horror or fantasy.
However the second half is a long, tedious and frankly incredibly dubious history of mankind. It tries to swap the scary and intimate for the vast an epic, but manages to disappoint at every level.
King of the Night
The best story thus far in the collection. Perfectly brilliant as a stand-alone piece, but also a continuation of the previous two tales in terms of character, setting and theme. But Howard now has the fantasy prose style nailed down and he can do what he likes with it; and he also understands that epic is not achieved by flights of fantasy alone.
This is the story of war – the build up to a battle, problems within camp, magic from a warrior magician, and then the vicious battle itself. The tale does its best to balance the bloody with the gory, and that’s even before the battle starts. We open with a Roman soldier (presumably the same one from ‘Men of Shadows’) having his heart cut out, and we end with literally thousands slaughtered. Yes, it’s not for the faint hearted, but in the sweep of its narrative and the ferociousness of its ending, this is a story that aims for and achieves epic status.
Worms of the Earth
So we have here the star attraction. The story which gives its name to the whole collection; the one which the back-cover blurb tells me is ‘regarded by many as Howard’s finest weird tale’.
The hype is justified.
I’m not in a position to say whether this is actually Howard’s finest weird tale, but without a doubt it’s brilliant.
‘Worms of the Earth’ is an innovative piece of sword and sorcery – atmospheric, mysterious, strangely sexy and damned scary. Our warrior king hero makes a deal with an ancient race – let’s call them ‘the old ones’, for sake of argument – to take revenge on a Roman who has earned his wrath. Obviously this decision is not going to end well for anyone. We’ve all read enough of these type of stories to know that. But what impressed me most about ‘Worms of the Earth’ is that even though it’s coming from the same direction as a H.P. Lovecraft story, this is no mere Lovecraftian-pastiche. There are similar themes and ideas, but Howard uses them in a way which is very much his own. This very much stands alongside the best of Lovecraft’s work, never in its shadow. A fantastic piece of fantasy which is blowing open its own path.
Fragment
Much like the title suggests, this is merely a sketch, an idea. Maybe if Howard had lived he would have fitted it in to a grander piece. As it is, it won’t live long in the memory.
The Dark Man
It makes sense that this is the last story, as rather than following our warrior king, Bran Mak Morn, and the world of the Picts, here they are the stuff of legend and myth. Although really it’s not that simple. Yes, the story follows a lone warrior, and he is helped by Bran Mak Morn and those warriors who went before, but this man is an outcast of a dying race and he’s taking on another dying race. So, the power of the warrior remains, but those who care are dwindling in number (or simply being brutally slain) every day.
It’s an elegiac tale then. The world of these stories is coming to end, and soon there will be no warriors to carry on their traditions, and the only people who will remotely care are people who pick up strange and battered paperbacks at train stations.
The warriors are gone, and the stories only survive on yellowed and cheap paper.
September 20, 2022
This is a Bran Mak Morn short story. He is a fictional legendary king of the Picts. It’s much more fantasy than history, as not much was known about the Picts when this story was written. And the story might be all the better for it.
It’s a bit of a dark and gritty Robin Hood kind story, with Bran Mak Morn standing up to the oppressive and unfair ruler, a Roman governor. To do so, he gathers his own band of merry men. Only, they’re not very merry. And they’re not men either. To overthrow the Roman governor he’s willing to unleash an ancient evil.
A rather dark tale of vengeance with some elements of the supernatural to raise the stakes, written by a legendary author at the top of his game.
It’s a bit of a dark and gritty Robin Hood kind story, with Bran Mak Morn standing up to the oppressive and unfair ruler, a Roman governor. To do so, he gathers his own band of merry men. Only, they’re not very merry. And they’re not men either. To overthrow the Roman governor he’s willing to unleash an ancient evil.
A rather dark tale of vengeance with some elements of the supernatural to raise the stakes, written by a legendary author at the top of his game.
February 19, 2022
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tal...
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0607...
Good mix of Romans and Picts fighting it out over the British Isles, some good old pagan witchery, and a deal and an offering made in vengeance and regretted, and some fairly disgusting sex thrown in for good measure.
Not the normal Cthulhu Mythos, and set in the Bran Mak Morn world of post-Atlantean Picts, but manages to weave it all together really well.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0607...
Good mix of Romans and Picts fighting it out over the British Isles, some good old pagan witchery, and a deal and an offering made in vengeance and regretted, and some fairly disgusting sex thrown in for good measure.
Not the normal Cthulhu Mythos, and set in the Bran Mak Morn world of post-Atlantean Picts, but manages to weave it all together really well.
November 16, 2019
With every reading of this story, it jumps up on my short list of “favorite stories by REH”. It might be number 1, if not 1 then 2, the competition being “Pigeons from Hell”.
It is my favorite weird work by REH and while Bran Mak Morn is not one of my top-three REH created characters, it is my favorite BMM story and my favorite Children of the Night tale.
The writing is vivid, and while vivid is often interpreted as “slow”, that is not the case with WotE. REH paints word pictures with his prose. He does this in his strongest writings, and this is one of those. He uses smart repetition of color (in this case: black, muted silver and mottled earth tones) and he uses alliteration to strong effect.
He also builds a sense of comparison: are “They” the monsters, or is Bran the monster for enlisting Their aid? And always They or Them. They are the Other.
Strong, powerful story with great writing.
It is my favorite weird work by REH and while Bran Mak Morn is not one of my top-three REH created characters, it is my favorite BMM story and my favorite Children of the Night tale.
The writing is vivid, and while vivid is often interpreted as “slow”, that is not the case with WotE. REH paints word pictures with his prose. He does this in his strongest writings, and this is one of those. He uses smart repetition of color (in this case: black, muted silver and mottled earth tones) and he uses alliteration to strong effect.
He also builds a sense of comparison: are “They” the monsters, or is Bran the monster for enlisting Their aid? And always They or Them. They are the Other.
Strong, powerful story with great writing.
January 3, 2009
Another really fine collection of stories. Bran Mak Morn is probably my favorite Howard character on an individual basis. These stories show Howard at the height of his power.
Note: This book contains most of the same stories as in the Dell paperback called "Bran Mak Morn," with the exception of "The Night of the Wolf," which it doesn't include.
Note: This book contains most of the same stories as in the Dell paperback called "Bran Mak Morn," with the exception of "The Night of the Wolf," which it doesn't include.
June 14, 2019
King Bran Mak Morn seeks vengeance against the Roman governor Titus Sulla after witnessing the crucifixion of one of his comrades. He seeks aid from a race of grotesque monsters lurking in the dark depths of an ancient cave called the Worms of the Earth. He offers them a holy relic as a bargain, only to realize that these creatures are much more horrifying than he could’ve possibly imagined.
So horrifying in fact, that Bran revokes his offering in fear. It’s shocking to think that there’s something so horrifying lurking in the darkest depths of the world that you wouldn’t even wish for the evilest man on the planet to be subjected to their cruelty. In the end, Bran chooses to show mercy to the man that he once swore to kill. The fantasy and horror aspects of this story were very well done.
So horrifying in fact, that Bran revokes his offering in fear. It’s shocking to think that there’s something so horrifying lurking in the darkest depths of the world that you wouldn’t even wish for the evilest man on the planet to be subjected to their cruelty. In the end, Bran chooses to show mercy to the man that he once swore to kill. The fantasy and horror aspects of this story were very well done.
June 14, 2019
King Bran Mak Morn seeks vengeance against the Roman governor Titus Sulla after witnessing the crucifixion of one of his comrades. He seeks aid from a race of grotesque monsters lurking in the dark depths of an ancient cave called the Worms of the Earth. He offers them a holy relic as a bargain, only to realize that these creatures are much more horrifying than he could’ve possibly imagined.
So horrifying in fact, that Bran revokes his offering in fear. It’s shocking to think that there’s something so horrifying lurking in the darkest depths of the world that you wouldn’t even wish for the evilest man on the planet to be subjected to their cruelty. In the end, Bran chooses to show mercy to the man that he once swore to kill. The fantasy and horror aspects of this story were very well done.
So horrifying in fact, that Bran revokes his offering in fear. It’s shocking to think that there’s something so horrifying lurking in the darkest depths of the world that you wouldn’t even wish for the evilest man on the planet to be subjected to their cruelty. In the end, Bran chooses to show mercy to the man that he once swore to kill. The fantasy and horror aspects of this story were very well done.
July 9, 2013
I chose to read this book because many years ago I read the first part in a Conan the Barbarian Comic and always wanted to know how it progressed and ended. How disappointing. It would appear that I read the best bit whilst the rest just sped by. Oh well.
November 6, 2024
The Worms of the Earth is one of REH’s greatest stories. One of the best meldings of fantasy and horror ever. It’s a shame that there are so few Bran Mak Morn stories. This edition has a great Jeffrey Catherine Jones cover, but the interior illustrations aren't great.
December 17, 2024
worms of the earth i raise, the fallen ancient race
May 17, 2021
I feel like the author is a kindred spirit, though I hope I am less racist and sexist. I am also fascinated by the origins of humanity, but... well, you'll see.
Howard is fascinated by the idea of prehistoric tribes, and he explores this by describing them (inaccurately) and then making them fight.
This book is all about the Picts, or at least his version of the Picts -- who are Mediterranean in origin and are the eldest extant human group in the British Isles, at least among those that live above ground and are still considered human (uh, spoiler). But he has a foreword which pretty openly lays out that he's just fascinated with the beginnings of civilization, and he's excited about the Picts less for their own historical nature (which he hasn't seriously researched) and more because of what the first humans in the British Isles symbolize to him.
The stories are like novelizations of _Diablo_ levels, with the protagonist (a different person in every story) killing lots of enemies and often marveling at how awesome whichever weapon he's carrying is. (Sample text: "Now the superiority of the light Irish ax was proved, for before the Saxon could shift his heavy weapon, the Dalcassian ax lit out like a striking cobra and Athelstane reeled as the edge bit through the corselet into the ribs beneath.")
The stories are extremely preoccupied by race, as the Lord of the Rings is, except that instead of a bunch of fictional races (elves, orcs, dwarves, trolls) whose good or evil was supernaturally predetermined, Howard's stories have races that actually come out of the history books (Romans, Celts, Picts, Vikings), and no one is good; everyone is at best an amoral antihero, and they all spend their time grimacing wolfishly, performing various acts in ways that remind the narrator of predatory animals, and then savagely betraying one another while lecturing about how one race descended from another race and how they all hate each other.
All the races in the book are white, so the characters spend a lot of time thinking discriminatory thoughts about other races whom they distinguish from themselves by the color of their hair and eyes.
I don't know what it says about me that I enjoyed this book a lot.
Howard is fascinated by the idea of prehistoric tribes, and he explores this by describing them (inaccurately) and then making them fight.
This book is all about the Picts, or at least his version of the Picts -- who are Mediterranean in origin and are the eldest extant human group in the British Isles, at least among those that live above ground and are still considered human (uh, spoiler). But he has a foreword which pretty openly lays out that he's just fascinated with the beginnings of civilization, and he's excited about the Picts less for their own historical nature (which he hasn't seriously researched) and more because of what the first humans in the British Isles symbolize to him.
The stories are like novelizations of _Diablo_ levels, with the protagonist (a different person in every story) killing lots of enemies and often marveling at how awesome whichever weapon he's carrying is. (Sample text: "Now the superiority of the light Irish ax was proved, for before the Saxon could shift his heavy weapon, the Dalcassian ax lit out like a striking cobra and Athelstane reeled as the edge bit through the corselet into the ribs beneath.")
The stories are extremely preoccupied by race, as the Lord of the Rings is, except that instead of a bunch of fictional races (elves, orcs, dwarves, trolls) whose good or evil was supernaturally predetermined, Howard's stories have races that actually come out of the history books (Romans, Celts, Picts, Vikings), and no one is good; everyone is at best an amoral antihero, and they all spend their time grimacing wolfishly, performing various acts in ways that remind the narrator of predatory animals, and then savagely betraying one another while lecturing about how one race descended from another race and how they all hate each other.
All the races in the book are white, so the characters spend a lot of time thinking discriminatory thoughts about other races whom they distinguish from themselves by the color of their hair and eyes.
I don't know what it says about me that I enjoyed this book a lot.
September 28, 2010
I found this copy of Robert E. Howard’s Worms Of The Earth in a little thrift store and snapped it up. It’s been years since I read any of Howard’s work, mainly because I hunted down and read everything he wrote when I was a kid. Of all the fantasy writers in this swords and sorcery genre, Howard remains my favorite. Something about his writing puts him head and shoulders above his peers, in my opinion.
The tales represented here are not Howard’s best work, perhaps, but very interesting all the same. In his introduction, Howard talks about his fascination with the people known as Picts and this is well reflected in the stories of Bran Mak Morn, king of the Picts. Howard had a knack for weaving the places and events of history with the myths and legends of the past. It gives his writing a complexity that works well for his kind of storytelling.
It’s been nice getting reacquainted with Howard’s writing. I’m left with a yen to read more and I’m looking forward to it.
The tales represented here are not Howard’s best work, perhaps, but very interesting all the same. In his introduction, Howard talks about his fascination with the people known as Picts and this is well reflected in the stories of Bran Mak Morn, king of the Picts. Howard had a knack for weaving the places and events of history with the myths and legends of the past. It gives his writing a complexity that works well for his kind of storytelling.
It’s been nice getting reacquainted with Howard’s writing. I’m left with a yen to read more and I’m looking forward to it.
December 11, 2010
Very good guilty pleasure for 'hack and slash'. Howard had a gift for words and sometimes he could just draw you in.
August 20, 2016
Thesauruses were fearsome creatures.
July 21, 2022
This was not what I was expecting. It was a fun read. The characters were very interesting. I've been trying to get better versed in Howard's other characters and this was not a disappointment!
July 16, 2020
"Know Thine Enemy" would have made a fantastic subtitle for this excellent short story (which I read in its inclusion in the "The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack®: 40 Modern and Classic Lovecraftian Stories", and richly deserving its place therein).
Disguised as emissary, King Bran Mak Morn of the Picts witnesses the unjust crucifixion of one of his kinsmen under the watch of Titus Sulla, a Roman answerable only to the Roman Emperor himself, during the Romans' crusade to and occupation of Albion.
Little did Titus Sulla know that not only was Bran the King of the Picts, but also that the Pict tribe themselves were of a race that had occupied Britain even before the Celts' settled here.
Moreover, long before any invaders from Europe ever set foot on British soil, the Picts had defeated a race of star-born creatures aspiring to be human and driven them deep underground.
Seeking to avenge the slaughter of his kinsman, Bran set off in search of the talisman that would unlock the portal between the British Isles of now and the realm to where the Picts had driven that erstwhile star-born race thousands of years ago.
Upon meeting a werewoman on the fen, Bran makes his promises and his vows and, asking only for the love of a man for one night in return, she delivers him to a Barrow that will eventually lead him to that long lost ethereal race.
But will the exiled race forgive Bran for his ancestors' tribe's unmerciful treatment of their own ancestors so long ago?
Will they do his bidding in return for a chance to walk the Earth once more?
And what exactly are these creatures, who've lived without the light of the sun for so many, many thousands of years?
In this fast-paced novella, questions arise quickly, but the author skilfully answers those queries even before they've fully formed in the reader's mind.
A quite unique setting and wholly original story that will leave lovers of the Eldritch and the Cthulhu Mythos (as well as those of history- and myth-based fantasy) expressly satisfied.
Disguised as emissary, King Bran Mak Morn of the Picts witnesses the unjust crucifixion of one of his kinsmen under the watch of Titus Sulla, a Roman answerable only to the Roman Emperor himself, during the Romans' crusade to and occupation of Albion.
Little did Titus Sulla know that not only was Bran the King of the Picts, but also that the Pict tribe themselves were of a race that had occupied Britain even before the Celts' settled here.
Moreover, long before any invaders from Europe ever set foot on British soil, the Picts had defeated a race of star-born creatures aspiring to be human and driven them deep underground.
Seeking to avenge the slaughter of his kinsman, Bran set off in search of the talisman that would unlock the portal between the British Isles of now and the realm to where the Picts had driven that erstwhile star-born race thousands of years ago.
Upon meeting a werewoman on the fen, Bran makes his promises and his vows and, asking only for the love of a man for one night in return, she delivers him to a Barrow that will eventually lead him to that long lost ethereal race.
But will the exiled race forgive Bran for his ancestors' tribe's unmerciful treatment of their own ancestors so long ago?
Will they do his bidding in return for a chance to walk the Earth once more?
And what exactly are these creatures, who've lived without the light of the sun for so many, many thousands of years?
In this fast-paced novella, questions arise quickly, but the author skilfully answers those queries even before they've fully formed in the reader's mind.
A quite unique setting and wholly original story that will leave lovers of the Eldritch and the Cthulhu Mythos (as well as those of history- and myth-based fantasy) expressly satisfied.
March 14, 2017
WORMS OF THE EARTH is an anthology collection of stories featuring Robert E. Howard's Pictish hero, Bran Mak Morn. Morn's sworn enemies were the Romans, so these seven stories typically feature Pict vs. Roman action in ancient Britain.
THE LOST RACE is an introductory story that tells of a Celtic warrior kidnapped by an underground race. The forbidding landscape plays an important role here, but the rest of the tale is heavy on the exposition and light on the action, making it a background piece more than anything else. MEN OF THE SHADOWS is by contrast a battle piece in which a Roman brigade is attacked by masses of Pictish warriors. Halfway through the action ends and the rest is all songs and history, which is a bit unusual and makes it more philosophical than expected. KINGS OF THE NIGHT is much better and involves Morn bringing together the tribes to fight the hated Romans. Bizarrely, Howard's ancient hero Kull is brought into the story's present via magic, and it all ends in an incredibly violent battle full of bloodshed from every angle. The whole tale brims with power.
Next up is A SONG OF THE RACE, a stirring poem and a nice tribute to heroic fantasy in itself. WORMS OF THE EARTH is the best story in the collection, and sees Morn on a personal mission of revenge against his enemies. Lovecraftian conventions are used throughout in a story that explores monstrous horrors beneath the moors of ancient Britain. It's great stuff and a treat for this Cthulhu fan. FRAGMENT is exactly that, telling of the meeting between Morn and some Viking warriors, and it's only a pity it was never finished. The final story is THE DARK MAN and set a few centuries after the Picts were wiped out. An Irish outcast seeks revenge against a Viking warband and discovers a statue to Morn en route. Graphic and gory bloodletting is the order of the day, and Morn's supernatural presence is the icing on the cake.
THE LOST RACE is an introductory story that tells of a Celtic warrior kidnapped by an underground race. The forbidding landscape plays an important role here, but the rest of the tale is heavy on the exposition and light on the action, making it a background piece more than anything else. MEN OF THE SHADOWS is by contrast a battle piece in which a Roman brigade is attacked by masses of Pictish warriors. Halfway through the action ends and the rest is all songs and history, which is a bit unusual and makes it more philosophical than expected. KINGS OF THE NIGHT is much better and involves Morn bringing together the tribes to fight the hated Romans. Bizarrely, Howard's ancient hero Kull is brought into the story's present via magic, and it all ends in an incredibly violent battle full of bloodshed from every angle. The whole tale brims with power.
Next up is A SONG OF THE RACE, a stirring poem and a nice tribute to heroic fantasy in itself. WORMS OF THE EARTH is the best story in the collection, and sees Morn on a personal mission of revenge against his enemies. Lovecraftian conventions are used throughout in a story that explores monstrous horrors beneath the moors of ancient Britain. It's great stuff and a treat for this Cthulhu fan. FRAGMENT is exactly that, telling of the meeting between Morn and some Viking warriors, and it's only a pity it was never finished. The final story is THE DARK MAN and set a few centuries after the Picts were wiped out. An Irish outcast seeks revenge against a Viking warband and discovers a statue to Morn en route. Graphic and gory bloodletting is the order of the day, and Morn's supernatural presence is the icing on the cake.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2025
Bran Mak Morn never tickled my fancy, honestly. REH is honest in his foreword--presumably sourced from some correspondence but Glenn Lord isn't forthcoming--admitting an unreasonable obsession with the Picts or at least his stone-age, mostly Native American conception of them. Their "stately, magnificent barbarism", perhaps, or the yawning doom they face from the more advanced tribes and civilizations knocking on their door.
The pure bloodline of Bran Mak Morn himself, in particular. The product of careful (in)breeding while the rest of his people turn grotesque from their miscegenation. (Aside: this isn't how genetics works.) And the disgust in getting it on with a woman of more-than-questionable lineage.
But of this collection I can count the stories where the protagonist is _shown_ and _told_ things, and in "Kings of the Night", Bran is supplanted in his own story by the involvement of Kull, who makes a special guest appearance to whoop some ass.
The pure bloodline of Bran Mak Morn himself, in particular. The product of careful (in)breeding while the rest of his people turn grotesque from their miscegenation. (Aside: this isn't how genetics works.) And the disgust in getting it on with a woman of more-than-questionable lineage.
But of this collection I can count the stories where the protagonist is _shown_ and _told_ things, and in "Kings of the Night", Bran is supplanted in his own story by the involvement of Kull, who makes a special guest appearance to whoop some ass.
May 15, 2020
The Picts were the people that occupied Caledonia before the coming of the Gaelic Scots. "Worms Of The Earth" collects Howard's short stories of the mysterious Picts and their war with the Roman Empire, led by the warrior king Bran Mak Morn.
Two of the highlights are the story that gives the book its title; full of magic and creepiness, Bran meets with a strange underground race to destroy the Roman leader. Another great one is "Kings Of The Night" where Bran unites his Picts with the Britons of the south and the Gaels of Ireland along with a handful of Norsemen in an epic battle against the Roman legions. The wizard Gonar summons King Kull of Atlantis from the distant past to aid in the struggle.
A great little collection and one of Howard's most memorable heroes.
Two of the highlights are the story that gives the book its title; full of magic and creepiness, Bran meets with a strange underground race to destroy the Roman leader. Another great one is "Kings Of The Night" where Bran unites his Picts with the Britons of the south and the Gaels of Ireland along with a handful of Norsemen in an epic battle against the Roman legions. The wizard Gonar summons King Kull of Atlantis from the distant past to aid in the struggle.
A great little collection and one of Howard's most memorable heroes.
February 23, 2021
A story or revenge involving Picts and Romans. Not to mention the dreaded worms; a race that lives underground and were once much like mankind. The denouement felt a bit lackluster and the worms were not that scary of a foe. The story is primarily about regretting an act of vengeance. Audible edition.
May 20, 2021
Conjunto de relatos que Robert E. Howard dedicó al rey Brakn Mak Morn y su idealizada visión de los pictos, donde entrelaza crónicas pseudo históricas (en particular la pretendida resistencia de dicho pueblo a la invasión romana) con episodios de horror cercanos al ciclo de Cthulhu desarrollado por su colega H.P. Lovecraft. Espada y Brujería al ritmo de su autor, a veces falto de un desarrollo que rebase la nostalgia escapista pero siempre dinámico en sus descripciones y narrativa.
April 19, 2024
This is definitely a quick read. A few stories that are really good, but then you have the absolute best Bran Mak Morn tale in The Worms of the Earth which headlines this particular collection. This is why Robert E. Howard was such an underrated story teller. Obviously in S&S he is the father, but he was so much more and it really shows with the way he balances epic storytelling in a realistic setting with a horrific setting that lays underneath the plot just like the Worms of the Earth.
October 17, 2022
A Pictish warlord gets back at Romans for crucifying his buddy, by allying with Cthulhu cultists and summoning the aid of some subterranean race of humanoid monstrosities. Pretty gnarly tale, if a little predictable.
I read the version published in the “The Cthulhu Stories of Robert E. Howard” anthology.
I read the version published in the “The Cthulhu Stories of Robert E. Howard” anthology.
July 1, 2018
Robert Howard is an underappreciated American writer. His ability to create the "feel" of an ancient crypt or dark jungle is amazing. His cast of iconic heroes is ridiculous, Conan, Bron Mak Morn, Solomon Kane.
This was an fun short story which would make a great movie, hint hint Hollywood.
This was an fun short story which would make a great movie, hint hint Hollywood.
August 2, 2024
Las dos primeras historias son un poco sin más, pero obtienes el contexto para las siguientes, que son bastante mejores. Sin duda la que comparte nombre con el título del libro es la mejor. Recomendable.
August 24, 2020
Potente y nerviosa prosa. Gran ejemplo de lo que howard fue y lo que nunca llegó a ser
December 22, 2020
Snakes aren't slimy.
April 26, 2021
Straightforward and savage. My first non-Conan REH and i am impressed. The best kind of brutal barbarian escapism.
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